DUOExclusive
SET DESIGNER
Antony Roth Given the task of set design for Titanic, many would have run for the hills but not Antony Roth, whose career in TV (NQTV, the Disney Channel and Hey Hey it’s Saturday to name just a few) stood him in good stead. “I’d seen the original Broadway production of Titanic and had been a little underwhelmed with their design, which relied mostly on an expensive set of hydraulics for the tilting and sinking of the ship,” Antony says. “It was soon decided that the actual tilting wasn’t vital for our final scenes and that using a deck on a five-degree tilt for a few keys scenes would be enough. Artistic licence would fill the gaps.” A lot of scenes were originally played on Broadway in front of the house curtain, but Bill and Antony decided that, instead of a blank curtain, it would be ideal to work in front of projected blueprints. “I created designs based on original blueprints, many projected at full scale, of boilers, propellers, staterooms…,” Antony says. “Construction and set painting were accomplished with largely volunteer labour. Anyone who wanted to pick up a paintbrush or a roller was put to work!” Collaborating with Bill on his last show was a particular privilege, Antony says, adding that it was great to have “Townsville’s theatre artiste extraordinaire, Andre Reynaud, working on sets and stencils” along with “amazing set builder and talented actor Kevin Wright”. Now ‘retired’ in Cairns, Antony is currently writing and designing a book on far northern railway construction and history, titled Tunnels & Bridges: Kuranda Railway.
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DUOMagazine June 2016